IoD police accolade

South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes could be in line for a top business award.

Mr Hughes is one of a small number of business and organisation chiefs to reach the finals of the inaugural Chartered Director of the Year Award, presented by the Institute of Directors

As well as running South Yorkshire Police, which has a budget in excess of £270 million and employs 5,500 people, he is a director of Road Safety Support and NDORS.

Road Safety Support was set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers, to help police forces cope with a rising number of drivers contesting speeding tickets on the basis of legal technicalities.

NDORS, the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme, offers road users who exceded the speed limit or drive without due care and attention an alternative to prosecution or a fixed penalty notice. Mr Hughes worked to gain Chartered Director status to demonstrate that he would bring good corporate governance skills to running a police force and to show that public sector skills were transferable to the private sector.

“I believe it shows that public sector leaders can operate in a private sector environment, particularly because we have experience of unique areas of management. I am very happy to draw attention to the fact that skills are transferable from the public to the private sectors,” said Mr Hughes.

This is the first year that the IoD has included a special award to recognise directors who studied for the Chartered Director qualification.

Last year, the IoD overall Director of the Year was Dr Graham Honeyman of Sheffield Forgemasters International.